Monday, March 31, 2014

Moldova staged once again its national final and there was no lack of drama. In the end Cristina Scarlat (33) won ahead of Boris "Let's change songs" Covali and others. She was fourth time lucky winning the national final after being already the runner up in 2013. Cristina is the lead singer of the Presidential orchestra, plays piano and violin and even has time for a family life being a mother of two kids. Her entry Wild soul is heavily staged dark drama...

Robert: When I only heard the studio versions of the Moldovan national selection, Vis by Margarita & Metafora was my favorite. But unfortunately Margarita wasn't very strong vocally on the night of the final. Pity! So in the end the right song won with this power woman with strong voice. Cristina was my second choice to win the ticket before the final, but after I heard them singing it was only Cristina for me. But do not argue with her.... beware!

Blogilkar:Margarita was also my favorite, my only favorite in Moldova. Unfortunately she was ill and hardly able to sing at all, so.... I still haven't got any grip of this Moldovan Wild dances, sorry Wild soul. The staging is rather confusing, her English quite challenged and it's just way too much drama for me.... This will be my toilet break....If only it was not in English I might like it a bit more.

Sunday, March 30, 2014

This
season I did an editorial choice not to do any interviews for
various reasons, but there's one I just had to do: my main girl Valentina
Monetta, the Sammarinese representative for the third year in a row. The young girl using
social network almost emerged from the crisalide last year as a woman but this
year, maybe, she will shine like a a pearl in the shell
in Copenhagen! What does she think about her past, present and
future? And what does kite surfing mean to her? Would she rather hang out with Nina, Raphael or Marco? Find it all out here:

Valentina,
here you are again. What's up?It's good, I'm happy and I go
forward, doing what I love the most in life and if I have this
ability and luck, I owe it to Eurovision.

To begin with,
let's go back in time. Valentina in 2004. Where was she and what she
was doing, what she dreamed about?In 2004, I was working, dating
a police officer and in the evenings I trasformed as a singer ..

Well,
now let's go to the future instead. Valentina in 2024?Good
question! Maybe I'll have two sons and a Pygmalion companion? Perhaps
I'm producing myself and will produce other talents, too. One thing
is certain: I will be still singing.

Back to the present.
Soon you'll be in both Eurovision in Concert and the London
Eurovision Party once again. What is the significance of these two
fan events for you?It 's great, in both occasions I felt loved
so much and this of course is always a great pleasure, I hope it will
be like that this time, too.

What do you expect the most in
Copenhagen ? You were already in Eurovision twice and you know the
festival better than any other artist this year. Do you think this
experience helps you in some way?It's different every time and
it's as if it was the first time, although the logistics are more or
less the same but every time you breathe a different air, emotions
are always more and more intense, but perhaps easier to manage or
perhaps not. You're never too experienced and this is its beauty. Eurovision Song Contest will always be one of the most significant
experiences of my career and for both my artistic maturity and
humanity.

Your performance in the Party of San Marino in Malmo
in 2013 was a success which is still talked about. Are you planning
something similar in Copenhagen?Maybe .. hahaha :)

How do
you respond to criticism of your Eurovision choices compared to those
songs you sing and write for yourself usually and perform in gigs?I
think it's fun and constructive to test and find that you have
resources that go beyond your comfort zone and certainty. For me to
work with Ralph Siegel and interpret his songs is a privilege and
great study. He is a great professional and composer, and if he saw
in me in what we propose to you that is a valid reason and I believe in
him. Like it or not, what we are able to transmit with his music, it
never happened to me before. This is not to say that my music is
worth of nothing, in fact, it is thanks to him that many fans have
discovered and are singing ''Una giornata bellissima” for example,
and I had the opportunity to write and work on my album
“Sensibilità”, which will be released on April 4.

If you
were not a singer as a profession, what would you do? Or have you
always been sure that one day you will a singer? Childhood
dreams?Yes. Since my childhood I knew I had artistic talent, i was
always singing and often preferred to play and listen to music
instead of other games and even in my dreams. Maybe I would have
otherwise been part of Greenpeace and it is never too late unless the
planet definitely turns against us seeing how we treat it...

In
your third participation at Eurovision you have many supporters but also,
in contrast , detractors and critics . How important criticism is to
you, what do you think?The critic is needed but still I go on my way,
hoping to make the best choices just like everyone else. Had you
done TV before Eurovision 2012? And what was your biggest audience
pre-Baku 2012?

I participated in several talent shows and worked
for some local Sammarinese and Italian TVs but never of this caliber.
But it's a fact that if I had not sung in clubs with live musicians
for years making my steps, I probably would not be here
and would not be able to write and compose songs and be able to give
so much to the listener.

When you sing in a small club with a
few dozen people, or in the arena of 15,000 people and 100 million
infront of the TV screen ... is there any difference in the end?No,
the respect I have for myself, the song and the audience in
front of me is so huge, no matter how many they are.

Nina
Zilli , Marco Mengoni, Emma .... who is your favorite ? Who of these
three would you do a duet with?All three are great artists .. with
all three but with Nina Zilli we would have so much fun togerher, I
think.

Finally let's talk about something totally different.
Kite surfing . How would you describe in a few words what it is and
what it gives to you? Many do not have a clue of this extreme sport
There are also various types of kitesurfing , freestyle , freeride,
downwinders , jumping, wave -riding .....Hahaha .. kitesurfing
you can cherish for many reasons. After I begin to practice this
sport it has given me so much .. It helped me overcome my fears and
insecurities, and when I'm stressed, it helps me to regain my mental
and physical balance. I love the wind and its unpredictability and
surf on water or snow (snow kite), driven by a large kite, being
caught by his strength, it is an unforgettable experience ..(And sometimes it gives unforgetable moments to passersby, too, read more here) I am
still a beginniner and now I am still learning but to do freestyle
that is my goal. I've even written a song '' Il vento (Wind) '' that
will be in my album "Sensibilità". And with that I thank
you. See you soon in Copenhagen!

Latvia's Aarzemnieki is fronted by German Jöran Steinhauer. He already has Eurovision national final experience from 2008 with Axiina. After a succesful farewell to Latvian lat last year with Paldies Latiņam! this year he and his foreigners have a Cake to bake.

Robert: Latvia, in fact, made me angry. Wrong song won! Not
that the winning song of Aarzemnieki is not cute but when you have a
super song in your preselection which is also nr 1 in the charts, how
can you as a nation not vote for it? It beats me. With Dons and Pedeja vestule, Latvia
even had a chance to win the whole thing. However, I predict Cake to
bake to go to the final also. YES final.

Blogilkar: Aarzemnieki wasn't my favorite either but somehow I wasn't at all surprised it won. I suspect it will do much better than any fan polls and betting odds indicate. I had several favorites in Latvia, including Dons. MyRadiantU and Mad Show Boys (even if they were rather chaotic live and didn't even make the final). Latvia showed for once and all one doesn't need all foreign composers to have a great line up.

Saturday, March 29, 2014

Valentina Monetta is releasing her third album titled Sensibilità next week digitally. The physical album release is due in early May. Fifteen new songs including her Eurovision 2014 entry Maybe (Forse) that comes also in Italian and radio versions, title track Sensibilitá (also in English and hip hop version) and already released duet A kiss with Joshua de Cadenex featuring also Corale San Marino choir. Other guests include her brother Vincenzo Monetta, Banda Militare della Repubbica di San Marino, Of Course Big Band, Mirco Moroncelli and Sarah Jane Ghiotti, a very possible future represant in the Eurovision. Listen snippets here.

I must admit I never really cared so much of Freaky Fortune and their RiskyKidd. But this fantastic Eurovision medley changed it all. After hearing this, seeing them perform it I want to like them! Can I say their likability did #RiseUp like 200%? Enjoy this dose of fabulousness here. Running scared never sounded this good.....

Iceland chose No prejudice by Pollapönk. The song comes with a message but is hidden under a comedy act so it may be lost to European audiences, despite its change of language from Enga fordóma. In Iceland the band is liked by kids and adults alike, has won awards for their work against prejudices and they have a long history in various bands and combinations as mucisians. The line up is Haraldur Freyr Gislason, Heidar Orn Kristjansson, Arnar Thor Gislason and Gudni Finnsson. Backing singers are Snæbjörn Ragnarsson (of metal band Skálmöld) and a Member of Icelandic Parliament Óttar Proppé.

Robert:Although I kinda like the
winning song of the Islandic preselection by Pollapönk, I totally
fell for Guðbjörg Magnúsdóttir's Aðeins ætluð þér but what happened here? It
totally came last!!!! Yes, it is a traditional schlager song but hey,
what is wrong with that in 2014?:) Am I getting old fashioned
here? Or did it get last because it was written by Swedish comppsers? No final for Iceland.

Blogilkar:I totally agree with Robert: Wrong song won! But my favorite for that was Amor by Ásdis Maria . One of my favorites of the whole season. Pollapönk may have an important message and all that, but it's performed in a way that makes it seem just another novelty act and they may be as famous as they can in Iceland, in Europe they are just a bit sad old gentlemen with questionable fashion sense. My only hope is it won't take a place in the final from someone who deserves it much more.....

Friday, March 28, 2014

Andràs Kállay-Saunders is yet another third time lucky in this years Eurovision with Running. His previous attemps (I love you 2012, My baby 2013) made him known and last year he was already a runner up with #1 hit in Hungary with his entry. He's a New York born son of an American soul singer and a Hungarian model. His father started from Detroit and planted the Motown sound to his son, something this blogger has loved already for years. In 2011 András moved to Hungary to be close to his ill granny, saw the ad for the local Idols like talent show and the rest is history!

Robert:Dal, the Hungarian preselection was
less interesting for me this year. Previous years, there were many
more good quality songs to be found to my taste and Kedvesem of last
year was an absolute topper for me. However, Hungary managed to
choose the best song of their preselection this year. I like it and
expect it to do very well. YES final.Blogilkar:Once again the Hungarian Dal was a very good selection show and along the way I had a few favorites but Kállay-Saunders was my clear favorite frommthe start. Great song, strong message, different beat and doing well in the polls. Hungary is in with a real change this year and closer to the victory that ever since their debut 20 years ago. Go András!

Thursday, March 27, 2014

Kaliningrad born Tanja (Tatiana Mihhailova, 30) isn't a new comer to Eesti laul as she already was a runner up back in 2002 with NightLight Duo and Another country song and took part again in 2003. Since then she has become a household name and much admired person in theater, musicals and TV-shows. Several bands, talent shows and international festivals later she lands Copenhagen 2014 with partly self-penned Amazing.

Robert:Like previous years, a very
interesting preselection in Estonia. I like many songs of this Eesti
laul like Maiken, Sandra Nurmsalu, Lauri Pihlap, Körsikud, Lenna
Kuurmaa and MiaMee but in the end Traffic's song Fur Elise is the
best for me. The winning song by Tanja is not at all appreciated by
me. No final.

Blogilkar: I have to admit I didn't pay much attention to this among the Eesti laul semifinalists. The dancing & singing performance seemed a bit akward and yes, a bit Loreen-ish. The Estonian final was full of worthy songs, like Robert stated above and my favorite at that point was Maiken. After Tanja's win I noticed however that the song was stuck in my head and by now I already like it. And I think it might just push itself to the final.....

Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Belgium chose Axel Hirsoux (32). He has taken part in several talent shows since 2001 and finally hit gold in the Belgian national selection Eurosong. He's got a great voice, no doubt and this blogger liked his efforts a lot in the selection process. When his entry Mother was revealed, I was less enthuastic....But I seem to be in minority as he is one of the main favorites to win this year....

Robert:There was no better song for me in the disappointing Belgian selection this year. Therefor I chose Axel's song but certainly not because I love it so much. I see that he can attract a lot of votes with his voice, song and presentation and maybe win the whole thing, but in the end we won't understand anymore why we voted for him because the song gets irritating quickly I'm afraid.

Blogilkar:I agree with my bicycling reporter Robert what he said about the song. Plus I have to admit I find the lyrics so cheesy I can't take them seriously. (Maybe I have some issues in my mother-son relationship? or my years living among Italian mammoni?) But considering the day after the final is a Mother's Day in many European countries and knowing ladies weekness for all these pop tenors this time of the year (the other being Christmas time) there is a danger we will end up with a winner no one wants to hear after the lights are down and party's over. A bit like I wanna.....

Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Douze points, twelve points is a new Dutch book about Eurovision by Geert
Willems. It was presented this Sunday in the city of
Nijmegen. My bicycling reporter Robert was present in the party - and is present in the book as well!

You can whineandmake fun of the Eurovision Song Contest but in The
Netherlands (and many other countries) it is a national public entertainment. The
final in May last year was the most-watched television broadcast of
2013. The song festival phenomenon deserves serious consideration.
Therefore Geert Willems, a journalist of the newspaper "De
Gelderlander" came up with the idea to write a serious book
about the contest.
Prejudicesaroundand about the festivalarerarelybasedon facts.Douzepoints,twelve pointswill change this!

Willems
writes about how the festival has played a role in the unification of
Europe, the relations between East and West and how the festival
plays an important role in the emancipation of the gay scene even today. And
also the varying performance of the Netherlands through the years,
avid fans, the alleged favoritism in the scoring, politics and the
development of the festival are addressed.

Among the guests present were Sietse
Bakker from the EBU, Marga Bult (NL 1987) and Eddy Ouwens (lyricist of Ding-a-dong). For now the book is only available in Dutch.

Azerbaijan had a long selection process Böyük Səhnə and Dilara emerged as the winner being third time lucky to represent her country in Eurovision. Nothing wrong with that, she's got a lovely voice. Then the Azeri TV did the usual and went shopping for the song abroad and once again it comes from Sweden. Start a fire. Aren't there any musicians and authors among those over 9 million Azeris? Shame on you!

Robert: Disappointing entry for Azerbaijan. Look for some further! No final to my taste.

Blogilkar: With first hearing I thought this is good and maybe the best Azeri entry since Drip Drop, but more I hear it less I care about it. She's good, but the song is bland, going nowhere, heard before (even as an Azeri entry), uninspired and uninteresting. The only attempt to be original is the fire in the title. This little effort does not deserve a place in the final....

Aram Mp3 (Aram Sargsyan, 30), a wellknown media person in his home country was chosen to represent Armenia internally. He is a singer-songwriter, actor, comedian, showman... you name it! (And apparently a homo- and transphobic*) He came up with a touching ballad Not alone that builts up towards the end and won instantly over both Eurovision fans and bookmakers and is currently the #1 favorite to win in May (*Update: Let's see if this has some effect on polls...)

Blogilkar: I must admit I was taken by this the first moment I heard it, which was a cellphone video from a concert. When the official version came out I was even ore convinced. Maybe not an Eurovison winner but a very strong and worthy runner up? In final: Yes!!!

Sunday, March 23, 2014

Hersi (Herciana Matmuja, 24) won the Albanese Festivali i Këngës with Zemërimi i një nate, that is now revamped to One night's anger. This was her fifth attempt to win the contest. She has a dual career going on with pop music and classical music with studies in Rome, Italy. Her entry somewhat embraces both of them and it isn't the easiest piece of cake this year to digest.

Robert:After listening to all the preselection songs in Albania, I was disapponted with the quality of songs and can only conclude they selected the best among the worst. Hersi's song isn't among my favorites this year. No final.

Blogilkar: I don't totally agree with by bicycling reporter Robert. I think there were a few goodies in the Albanese selection, and I never saw Hersi coming and winning it. Somehow I can't get a grip of the song at all. I would have sent Venera Lumani & Lindi Islami with Natë e pare or Blerina Brako with Mikja ime instead. No final for Albania this year.

Friday, March 21, 2014

Valentina Monetta has released also Forse, the Italian version video for her Eurovision 2014 entry Maybe (Forse). Which one do you prefer?
Her new album Sensibilità will be released in early May 2014....

We are now entering the apparently slow
month between the national finals and start of the contest in
Copenhagen in the end of April with rehearsals and all the rest.
Instead behind the scenes it's all crazy for the delegations with
preparations, rehearsals, promotion, interviews, recording albums,
mixes..... And soon there will be the two important promotion events
as well, Eurovision in Concert and London Eurovision.... But back to
Copenhagen:

The head of delegation meeting was
earlier this week in Copenhagen and finally the last entries were
presented, too.

As for the offcial news the premilinary
dates for theEurovision number 60 in 2015 have been set to May
12, 14 and 16. The host country draw its position in the final and
picked up a very nice 23 out of 26. The positions for
the semifinals will be revealed by DR later this month.

The HoDs also got a sneak peek of the
stage and some described it huge, ”Moscow huge”, so good bye to
the intimacy of Malmö 2013. Well, the venue gives a change to build
something very big, and apparently the Danish are going big at least
in the height department! Hopefully it won't fall apart like in
Copenhagen 2001 with the worst arena and stage ever. Period. But there seems to be awfully lot of work yet to be done judging the images inside the halls...

The HoDs also got to see some of the
postcards that are soon all filmed all around Europe with the artists
in the home environments giving us a glimpse of their daily life.

EBU has also released a video of how
the voting happens, a kind of Eurovision voting for the dummies. All
in line to get the voting more open. As we remember this year the
votes of each individual jury memeber will be published, five of them
in each country. The names of them, all 185, will be published May
1, 2014.

And today it's exactly 50 years since
Copenhagen hosted the Eurovision for the first time, ending with a
runaway victory for Italy's lovely Gigliola Cinquetti and Non hol'età, one of the best winners ever if you ask me. Time will tell if she will be present in Copenhagen in May....

Thursday, March 20, 2014

Softengine, that will fly the Finnish flag in the second semifinal in Copenhagen 2014 Eurovision has also released their music video for Something better . Curiously the live performance from the Finnish UMK final has been uploaded on eurovision.tv. This video may or may not give an idea how it will be staged in May....

Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Today finally also Austria unveiled its entry. Conchita Wurtz will sing Rise like a Phoenix in Copenhagen 2014 Eurovision. I guess we were expecting an uptempo disco anthem, instead we get a melodic ballad, very musical style. But who's complaining? Now place your bets how many points he gets from Russia.....
Update: Here's the live performance.

Monday, March 17, 2014

It seems the Russian entry, sung by the Tolmachevy Twins is titled Shine. As much as originality as is the writing team: Philip Kirkorov, Dimitris Kontopoulos, Gerard James Borg, John Ballard and Ralph Charlie. Makes me wonder once again do these people have anything else in their career going but writing Eurovision songs to any random countries that accepts them? Were they the only ones desperate enough to shine on Eurovision stage in this delicate situation once again, despite all? This said I hope the Russian song will get a fair treatment but I suspect there will be a lot of booing and voting boycotts, no matter what. And in a way it's right (even if it isn't).

Sunday, March 16, 2014

Belgium had some goodies to choose from and they went for this? Mother, it would have been rather horrid in Sanremo 1984 and even cheesier in Eurovision 2014. Anyways, Axel is a great singer, no doubt about that, but I just dislike the song (or rather the text) with passion. Can't help it. Maybe my relation with mother is a bit confused, but... no. And no further comment.

Ruslana was there and made a statement of today's fixed voting in Ucraine and Crimea. No further comment on that either.

The national selection season is coming to an end. This weekend the last four national selections and Azerbaijan will reveal its song Sunday as well. Then we have only Austria left for Tuesday release. The one big question mark remains Russia?! ....

Portugal entertained us tilmthe early hours with their 50th anniversary show in Eurovision. Sadly most every previous entry presented in one way or the other during the night was better than any of the songs in competition tonight. This blogger wishes nothing more than a Portuguese win in Eurovision but it is not going to happen in 2014 either. The final was like a 1982 final, time stood still. Not necessarily a bad thing, but the songs weren't that good. Or rather original. One reason is some of them were written by the usual writers who seem to send their songs to anyone who will accept them hoping for a spot in the national selection. Unfortunately two of these made the top-3.... Leaving Zana out. But all is good in the end as Suzy won leaving them home :-). Hooray Portugal for choosing a local product!

Saturday, March 15, 2014

Norway also selected their entry tonight. There was a Golden Final with the top four and strangely the four I thought did make the final, even if for me there was only one worthy winner: Carl Espen. It's different, touching, authenthic and special the way Marija Serifovic was. I remember hearing Molitva for the first time among the Serbian semifinalists back then and thought "if this wins here, it'll win the whole thing". I got the same feeling hearingSilent storm's snippet. And yes, it won :-)

Friday, March 14, 2014

In
June 2013 San Marino RTV announced that Valentina Monetta had been
asked to perform for the third time in a row for San
Marino at the Eurovision Song Contest 2014 in Copenhagen.

The
Story started right after Malmö:

Carlo
Romeo, Director General of San Marino RTV, was so disappointed of the
totally unexpected Semi-final result that he asked Valentina Monetta
right after Malmö 2013 if she would perform and try it again for a third time in
Denmark 2014.After serious and long
consideration, Valentina and her producer Ralph Siegel agreed to give
their best and take part one more time.

In
July Ralph Siegel and Mauro Balestri started to write another song
for Valentina and she was invited to record the demos in Forte dei
Marmi, Italy, at the end of August. One month later Ralph Siegel
finally recorded seven songs with Valentina in his studio in Munich.
In the meanwhile, Valentina Monetta also wrote and produced 9 songs
in San Marino with a little help of her many musical friends and
different artists. Finally
the new album Sensibilità was finished and the decision to choose the entry for
Copenhagen was not easy. A great variety of potential songs were
produced and many of them could have been the song for Copenhagen.

After
a long research with colleagues, professionals and friends, the clear
and final decision was made and the song Maybe (Forse) was
chosen. The song is in English, so everyone in Europe and all over
the world can understand the wonderful lyrics by Mauro Balestri. The
Italian version is also released, as well as a Dance-version for the
Euroclub to enjoy the song in many different ways.

Then the video was planned, and this took a lot of creative thinking and
time. Fabrizio
Raggi and a creative team from San Marino RTV started producing the
video in English and Italian.

Valentina
Monetta is one of the most talented jazz and pop singers in San
Marino and the whole country keeps the fingers crossed, hoping that
she will be third time lucky. She
really deserves it.

Good
luck to Valentina Monetta for her historic three-in-a-row and San Marino! Remember, it's a positivemaybe.

Among all that's been going on the past few days I completely forgot about the Moldova. Anyways, tomorrow's their final and these eight songs qualified; one of my favorites is out and the other qualified only thanks to a televoting wildcard.... Not looking good. But I still stick to it. Vis is by far the best song among these.... pronunciation challenged efforts by most.

Today's another busy day in the Eurovision world. No semifinals or finals but three countries will present their internally selected entries. First thing in the morning we can expect the Georgian entry. The Shin & Mariko will premiere their video for Three minutes to earth.

In the evening it's time for Armenia and San Marino. Armenia has chosen Aram mp3 and the song is apparently called Fight for love (or is it Not alone?). You can follow the presentation show here from 19.00 CET.

Later tonight all eyes are on San Marino. Valentina Monetta will unveil her third consegutive entry, Maybe, once again written by Ralph Siegel. The presentation show will be broadcasted also here from 21.10 CET.

Thursday, March 13, 2014

The German national final has just ended and the newcomers and wildcard Elaiza beat the megastar Unheilig in the superfinal with Is it right? Santiano and MarieMarie also qualified for the top-4. So, I got 3 out of 4 right and suspected the Elaiza win since their first performance as they always got a huge applause.

Emmelie de Forest was there, as was Emma from Italy, presented as "the face of Michele Hunziger and the voice of Gianna Nannini". Sadly I have to say Emma was far from convincing; shouty and out of breath vocals, far from flattering facials, no staging whatsoever.... Sigh. I was hoping she would give a proper polished premiere of her entry but no....

But back to Germany. Good show overall, some good songs, interesting winner even if Unheilig won me over during the show but I preferred the first song that didn't get to the superfinal to be honest.

And Jan Ola Sand, Christer Björkman and Nicola Caligiore were there, too, the latter declaring "Eurovision cliché is long gone!".